2023 Flyfishing Summary

 The multispecies flyfishing in 2023 has been the most incredible I've yet experienced.  I personally know 2 fly anglers that each caught considerably MORE species than I did this year... so I'm not suggesting I'm the best thing ever, LOL! Catching a bunch of species wasn't a concious goal I had set for myself.  It just sort of happened organically, I suppose.

I've been seriously flyfishing for over 17 years!  I do enjoy new and different fish.  I started the year with 83 species already on my Flyrod Life List.  With many being duplicates, I caught 85 total species in 2023!  But 30 were NEW to me on flyrod!  Lifelist now at 114!

A friend and I took a week long flyfishing trip to south Florida, which added quite a few species, both freshwater and saltwater.  I'd like to eventually reach at least 100 Freshwater Species on Fly, preferably all U.S. fish.  I'm at 98!

Some of the new freshwater flyrod fish I caught this year include:

Spotted Gar, Florida Gar, Spotted Sunfish, Redbreast Sunfish, Jaguar Guapote, Zebra Tilapia, Plecostomus, Ruddy Bowfin, Barramundi, Ozark Bass, Shadow Bass, Flier, Mooneye, Mottled Sculpin, and more.

Redbreast Sunfish

Ozark Bass

Orangespotted Sunfish

Tarpon

Grass Pickerel

47.5" Longnose Gar

27" Walleye

Mooneye

Skipjack Herring

Shadow Bass

Longear Sunfish

Longear Sunfish

Redspotted Sunfish

Flier

Warmouth

Dollar Sunfish

Jaguar Guapote

Plecostomus / Sailfin Catfish

Peacock Bass

Mayan Cichlid

Barramundi

Spotted Sunfish

Zebra Tilapia

Eyetail Bowfin

Chain Pickerel

GORGEOUS Leather Koi

 

And ANOTHER gorgeous Leather Koi!

Glad to have caught my first (baby) Tarpon on fly as well!

I wanted to catch 100 Bowfin (Eyetail and Ruddy combined) on fly in one calendar year, and I got that done, finishing the 7-month season with 118 Bowfin on fly!  Once again, I caught over 100 Koi on fly, and over 100 Goldfish.

Caught an Orange-Spotted Sunfish, a Dollar Sunfish, and many Redspotted Sunfish and many Warmouth.

My buddy and I took 2nd place in the Dally's Odyssey 2-day 2-person team Flyfishing Tournament in Arkansas.

I caught new Personal Best (Fly Rod) fish in:

-Walleye (27")

-Longnose Gar (47.5")

-Shortnose Gar (29.5")

-Eyetail Bowfin (26.5")

-Chain Pickerel (didn't measure)

I caught a number of big Bluegills, measuring 10"-10.5".

Thank you,  2023!  An incredible year for flyfishing!